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Updated: Nov 4, 2025
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Ecosystem Fabrication EcoFAB Protocols for The Construction of Laboratory Ecosystems Designed to Study Plant-microbe Interactions
Published on: April 10, 2018
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Experimental Evolution in Plant-Microbe Systems: A Tool for Deciphering the Functioning and Evolution of
Beatriz Manriquez1, Daniel Muller1, Claire Prigent-Combaret1
1UMR 5557 Ecologie Microbienne, VetAgro Sup, CNRS, INRAE, University of Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France.
Frontiers in Microbiology
|May 24, 2021
Summary
Microbial communities adapt to new environments through genetic and phenotypic changes. Experimental evolution (EE) combined with sequencing reveals adaptive mechanisms in single species and complex microbial communities, including plant-associated microbes.
Area of Science:
- Microbial Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Genomics
Background:
- Microbial communities face constant adaptation challenges in natural environments.
- Understanding adaptive responses requires studying genetic and phenotypic changes.
- Experimental evolution (EE) coupled with next-generation sequencing is a powerful tool for this analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review microbial EE studies of increasing complexity.
- To focus on plant-microorganism interactions.
- To highlight adaptive mechanisms and the importance of community-level studies.
Main Methods:
- Experimental evolution (EE) to impose environmental conditions.
- Next-generation sequencing for real-time genetic analysis.
- Comparative genomics to track evolutionary changes.
Main Results:
- EE has elucidated adaptive evolution in single bacterial strains.
- Studies are increasingly applying EE to microbial communities.
- Plant-microorganism interactions are a key area of focus for EE.
Conclusions:
- EE is crucial for understanding microbial adaptation.
- Considering complex environments and microbial communities is essential for realistic evolutionary insights.
- Future research should emphasize community-level EE studies.
Keywords:
evolutionary adaptationexperimental evolutionholobiontinteraction networkmicrobiotasynthetic communityMore Related Videos
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